Friday, 31 August 2012

Our second day, or first full day if you want me to be
precise, in the Grand Tetons dawned sunny but windy. We had slept well in our
cosy log cabin bedroom and wandered sleepily out onto the private veranda to
sample the day. I confess I was very slightly disappointed not to see moose
grazing the Wildflower Inn’s lovely lawns in the early sunshine, but I guess
you can’t have everything.

No Moose on the lawn!

Over a truly wonderful breakfast of fluffy egg soufflé,
cheese, bacon, juice and coffee, we discussed what we might do that day. Our
original plan had been to spend the morning exploring, and then go for a
trail-ride at the Mill Iron Ranch. However, the ranch had called the day before
to ask whether we could transfer our ride to the next day, due to booking
numbers. We didn’t mind at all, but it did leave us with no real plan for this
first full day. On speaking to our fellow guests, however, we learned that they
had been on a wildlife watching trip the evening before run by the Teton
Science School, a non-profit making organization. They had seen lots of
fascinating creatures, including a grizzly bear and her cubs! I was stunned,
and we immediately decided to try to book one of these trips for that very day.

We were in luck – they had a couple of places spare. I could
barely contain my excitement but had to, as the trip wouldn’t leave until 5.30
pm. So we spent the day looking round the Rockefeller center in the National
Park, and had a very pleasant walk up to Phelps Lake. There we met two of our
fellow guests from the Wildflower Inn. On the way back, we took plenty of
photographs of the lovely native flowers, and also some of the pretty butterflies
that flitted around our heads.

Phelps Lake.

Then we drove over to Jenny Lake, intending to do
another walk, but the weather had turned showery. Instead, we bought sandwiches
and ate them in the car, and then strolled around the parts of the lake that
were nearest the parking lot. One of the things that most impressed us about
this entire National Parks trip was its value for money. In the UK, you would
have to pay for every single parking lot you pulled in to. And many other
things besides. Also, the prices of virtually everything inside the park or
attraction would be inflated, and your pocket would take a battering. We had
expected it to be the same in the US, but we were very pleasantly surprised.
For a one-off fee of $25 (hardly a break-the-bank sum) we purchased a pass for
the car, regardless of how many occupants it had, which covered both the Grand
Tetons and Yellowstone, and which lasted for seven days. Provided we kept this
in the car and showed it to the ranger each time we wanted to re-enter the
Park, that was all we would pay regarding Park fees. It was excellent value. We were
also very pleased to discover that the Park’s attractions had not been
over-commercialized. Buildings were at a minimum, and most of them blended well
into their surroundings. Road construction, too, had been minimalized, and in
Yellowstone we learned that there were no more roads now than there had been
when it first received National Park status. Good for you, US! Other countries
could learn a valuable lesson from the way these National Parks are managed.Ok – soap-box moment over.

On our way back to the Wildflower Inn to rest and change
before our evening outing, we took the road where our fellow Inn guests had
reported seeing the grizzly bear mother and cubs the day before. Of course, I
knew they wouldn’t still be there – why would they? – but it would be good to
see what kind of terrain they favored. You can imagine my surprise and delight
when we rounded the corner and saw the huge “bear jam” that had formed along
the road – the grizzles were still there! We had heard about bear jams from the
proprietors of the Wildflower Inn, apparently they were the best way to find
the bigger forms of wildlife, as they were the ones everyone wanted to see.
Also, bears can be dangerous animals, and so Park rangers are always in
attendance whenever bears are spotted close to roads. They are there to protect
the bears from people, as much as people from the bears.We didn’t get a clear view of the grizzly family,
they were concealed among the sage brush, but we were told there was a mother
bear and either two or three largish cubs. But it was still a thrill for me – I
had never expected I’d ever get to see wild grizzly bears so close up! We
finally returned to the Inn full of our news and even more excited to see what
we would find with the help of an experienced guide.

Pronghorn deer.

Our guide pitched up just before 5.30, and we
bundled into her vehicle. I wish I could remember her name, but I can’t. She
was extremely pleasant, quite young, around 21 or so, and was a student at the
Teton Science School. She certainly knew her stuff, and was a mine of interesting information. I was surprised to find that Dave and I were her
only clients that evening, but she told us that there were two other Teton
Science vehicles out that night, and they were both full, so we got the benefit
of her knowledge and commentary – plus hot chocolate! – all to ourselves. She
headed out toward the ranger station, and there we discovered that we hadn’t
thought to bring our Park pass with us. Naively, we had expected that the cost
of the trip would include entry to the Park, but it didn’t. We paid for a
second pass, but had it refunded the next day when we showed our original one.
(Another thing that probably wouldn’t happen in the UK!)

I will cut what could be a long story short. We
had a fantastic trip with our guide and saw bison with young ones (wild this
time, not farmed!), beaver, osprey, pronghorn deer, a herd of female elk with
young, and two more grizzly bears. These bears, we were told, were adolescents
that shouldn’t really be away from their mother. The rangers were keeping an
eye on them to check that they were finding enough to eat.

Bull moose.

All this was wonderful, but there was one more
special thing that happened. Our guide spotted a big bull moose just on the
opposite bank of a river. There was a high patch of ground close by and we
pulled off the road to get a good view. Our guide had several pairs of
binoculars and we could all stand watching the placidly chewing beast together.
Our guide called the other Science School vehicles on the walky-talky they all
carried, and soon they arrived to share our success. Then our guide noticed a
second moose, further away across another bend in the river. This, she thought,
was a female. We could just see her through a gap in the trees. But while Dave
and our guide turned their attention back to the big male, I continued watching
the female. Suddenly, seen only by me, a glorious Bald Eagle flew in front of
the female moose and landed by the river. This creature was high on my
wish-list of things to see, and I was thrilled. But by the time I’d let the
others know, the wretched bird had disappeared. How annoying! Even more
annoying was the joky way my husband looked at me, as if to say “You saw a Bald
Eagle? Yeah – of course you did!”

But I was finally vindicated when Dave, trying for
a better view of the female moose, shifted his stance slightly. A different
view of the river opened up and there, sititng proudly on a dead tree, was my
handsome Bald Eagle! And this time, the contents of both full tour buses saw
it. It even flew across our field of vision a few minutes later, giving
everyone a fine view. What a fantastic end to a wonderful evening’s wildlife
watching!

Wednesday, 22 August 2012

When I woke up the day after Rhemalda’s ‘Got
Stories?’ conference, I could hardly believe it had happened at all. It had
been such an intense day, with such strong and wonderful feelings, that it
would surely take a while to sink in. With this in mind, we enjoyed a slow
morning, taking our time over showers and breakfast. Once we had eaten our fill
and completed our packing, we collected the Jeep and drove it round to the
nearest gas station. Here we washed the screen clear of dead insects and bought
some water for the journey and a couple of road maps. It was also here that I swear
I saw Simon Reeve, the TV presenter who had recently been on BBC 2 in the UK with
his ‘Indian Ocean with Simon Reeve’ programme. Dave didn’t believe me, but I’m
sure it was him driving away from the gas station!

Celebrity sighting or not, we followed this car
out of the gas station and on to the interstate between Salt Lake and our
destination for the night, Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was easy driving and after
a short while, I took over the wheel. It was nice because there was lots to
look at, and even though I was driving, the road was so straight and the
traffic so light that I could see the sights along the way. At one point we saw
some large white birds flying in the distance, and neither of us could quite
make out what they were. When we got a bit closer we were amazed to see that
they were pelicans! For some reason, neither of us had expected to see pelicans
wheeling in the skies close to Salt Lake City. A bit further along we began to
see an unusual cloud formation approaching. There were a dozen or so flat,
elliptical clouds looking as though they were balanced on top of each
other. Dave took a photo of them but it didn’t really do the phenomenon justice.

Odd, elliptical clouds.

As it was nearing lunchtime, we started looking
for somewhere to get a snack to stay the hunger pangs. We had seen signs for
Idaho Falls and thought it sounded pretty, so that was where we aimed. I still
don’t know how it happened but somehow I managed to turn off the Interstate,
and we found ourselves driving through an industrial and pretty boring area
which had no food outlets at all. Eventually we managed to find something
approximating a town and stopped at the only place offering food that we could
see. It turned out to be a very nice diner, with the added attraction of a
beautifully carved wooden seat outside, featuring two horses’ heads. As horses
are dear to my heart and these two were gorgeous, I simply had to take a
picture. I’d love a bench like this in my garden!

Beautiful horse-head seat.

It was Fathers’ Day, and so the diner was pretty
full and buzzing, but we got two very tasty sandwiches (and resisted all the
delicious desserts!) before continuing our drive to Jackson Hole.The day had been sunny and warm, but as we drove
over the Teton Pass, clouds appeared in the sky. It was quite cold at the
apex of the pass, and we got out of the car to feast our eyes on the view
unfolding before us. We could see the valley stretching out and the mountains
in the distance – quite stunning!As we carried on over the pass and finally entered
the valley of Jackson Hole, we came across the first real ‘wildlife’ (pelicans
excepted) we’d seen – it was our first sighting of real, live, American Bison!
Admittedly, they were enclosed by a wire fence, and I was quite surprised by
this. I had thought that all the wildlife would be roaming free, but they had
calves with them and were quite near the road, so we simply had to photograph
them. After all, I thought, we might not get the opportunity to see any more. Had I
realised what was to come, and that these animals weren't wild but were being farmed, I might
not have been so excited, but still, this was my first sighting of real
buffalo, and I was thrilled.

I can thoroughly recommend this beautifully built and well appointed log cabin
guesthouse. Our hosts Ken and Sherrie welcomed us, and allowed us to settle in to
our room. I say room but it was really a small suite, with a comfortable
sitting room, a wonderful bedroom and en suite bathroom, plus a private veranda
complete with chairs. Lemonade and homemade raspberry pastries helped us feel
at home. After chatting with Ken and Sherrie about our plans for our
three-night stay, and looking at wonderful photographs of moose that they’d
taken as the animals ate the grass on their guesthouse lawn, we took their
recommendation and strolled fifteen minutes down the road to a very nice Italian
restaurant. All the way we were scolded by pairs of nesting blackbirds; each
pair, it seemed, having claimed the space between one electricity pole and the
next. It was quite amusing to leave one angrily chattering pair behind, only to
have the noise taken up by the pair in front! We also saw our first moose, even
if it was only the black, lifesize cutouts that they place next to the road to
persuade speeding motorists to slow down. I know they had a serious purpose,
and that many moose are sadly killed each year by careless drivers, but I loved
them – they even had reflective red eyes!

Encounter with a Moose

Then it was back to our lovely guesthouse for the
night, ready to start our Jackson Hole and Yellowstone adventures in the
morning!

Thursday, 9 August 2012

The day after our speedboat trip around Lake Travis, we bade
a fond farewell to all our lovely friends and drove the 3 hours or so back to Houston
in order to catch our flight to Salt Lake City. I felt rested and relaxed, and
quite happy that I had done everything I could to prepare for my talk at the ‘Got
Stories?’ reading and writing conference. The flight went well, although it was
a little bumpy, and the air was clear, so we had a superb view of the mountains
as we approached our destination. Dave and I had been to Salt Lake once before,
a few years ago, when I accompanied him on a business trip. That time, we had visited
Yosemite National Park, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, The Grand Canyon and
Death Valley, also taking in the Hoover Dam and (briefly) Las Vegas. That had
been the trip of a lifetime, but I had a feeling this one would be better.

The Jeep Wrangler, and my handsome driver!

On landing, we picked up our hire car, a white Jeep
Wrangler. As we drove out of the airport, we were pleased to learn that we
remembered the way into the city. It was admittedly pretty close, but it’s still
easy to miss your way if you’re not paying attention. I think we must have
passed the hotel we stayed in last time as we navigated our way to the Hilton Garden Inn. We checked in, and also checked that they had our additional room
reservation for eleven days time, when we would be returning after our
Yellowstone visit. All was well, and we settled into our room, where I called
Emmaline to let her know we had arrived.

Around half an hour later, Emmaline called to say she and
Rhett were in the hotel lobby. I couldn’t get down there quick enough to meet
them, I was so excited. As I turned the corner and saw them waiting for me, I
got the lovely feeling that I wasn’t meeting them in person for the first time,
but instead greeting close, familiar friends. As we hugged, and I introduced
them to Dave, I didn’t have time to wonder why this should be. We had only ever
spoken by phone or on Skype, and although you can get to know someone a little
this way, nothing beats meeting them in person. I had expected some nervousness
on my part, some feelings of awkwardness, but nothing could have been farther
from the truth. I felt like I had known them for years, and they seemed to feel
the same. It was such a lovely surprise.

We spent quite some time discussing my books, the way our
future relationship might go, the next day’s conference, and the publishing
world in general. Dave was a star and asked all the technical questions I had
asked him to. He has run his own business for years and has a much better
business brain than I do. I could probably have asked the questions, but I
doubt I’d have understood – or remembered! – the answers. Rhett and Emmaline
were very happy to discuss Rhemalda Publishing and its goals, and it was all
very relaxed. We ended our discussions around 9 pm, by which time Dave and I
were starving! So we found ourselves an Italian restaurant and ordered some
delicious pasta.

I slept well that night, which surprised me, and woke with a
feeling of excitement and readiness. After breakfast, Dave and I took my
posters, fliers, bookmarks and business cards, plus the notes and slides for my
talk, into the conference room. Rhett and Emmaline were already there, along
with their two sons, whom I had met the day before. Aldrich and Darceyhelped me decorate my table with my posters and
fliers, and Emmaline gave me one of the beautiful displays of flowers she had
organized for each table. The room looked lovely!

My table at the conference.

And then my fellow authors began to arrive – I won't list them, you know their
names. As I met each one in person, that feeling of having known these lovely
people already just kept growing. Yes, we often refer to ourselves as the
Rhemalda “family”, and that’s exactly what it felt like. It was exciting to
have this feeling strengthened by being able to hug each person and speak face
to face. The conference guests also began arriving, and soon it was time to
start. Originally, I had been told I would be the third person to speak, but
because Rhett decided to speak last, instead of first, my talk moved to second
place. Good – less time to be nervous! I sat listening to J.S. Chancellor’s
fascinating talk on Character Development, trying not to hear the loud thump of
my heart. She took questions when she finished, and after each one my heart
raced faster, anticipating my turn. But when it finally came, and Rhett
introduced me, my nerves suddenly vanished. I felt like I was speaking to a
gathering of friends, and as my slides went through – controlled by my
glamorous assistant (Dave!) – and my talk progressed, I found I was enjoying it
more and more. I had some great questions afterward, which were fun to answer,
and then it was over. I could go and sit in the audience, and listen to the
rest of the talks. They were all brilliant, and I was amazed at how well each
talk related to the others. Some authors were clearly more used to public speaking
than others, but even those who were nervous got their points across and
acquitted themselves well. I was so proud to have been a part of it all!

The really fun part was the book signing.

The really fun part was the book signing once all the talks
were over. It was a great chance to talk to book fans and aspiring writers
alike. I heard and had some fascinating discussions concerning writing, and met
some extremely lovely people. And even then the fun wasn’t over, as Rhett and
Emmaline took us all, including our partners, out for supper at a sushi
restaurant. It was just the best way to wind down and celebrate such a
successful conference, and the shrimp-throwing was a hoot! Needless to say, I
failed to catch mine, unless you count it hitting me in the eye!!

I think none of us wanted the day to end, but
eventually it did. Dave and I took our leave, feeling we had made some lifelong
friends. The sadness of having to leave them was only tempered by the anticipation
of a vacation in The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park. But more of
that in my next post.